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Tuesday, July 15, 2014

2014 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender

Press Release: Rio Tinto’s iconic Argyle pink diamonds were part of the inaugural visit to Western Australia by Japan’s First Lady, Akie Abe, at the invitation of the Western Australian Government.

The 2014 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender collection, comprised of around 50 of the rarest and most valuable pink diamonds in the world, were showcased in an exclusive preview. The diamonds are the finest of a year’s production from Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine. Abe was the first to view a hero of the collection, a 1.59-carat emerald-cut fancy intense purplish pink stone, the Argyle Toki™.

Today Rio Tinto sells around 30 per cent of its Argyle pink diamonds into Japan.

Argyle Pink Diamonds have an average size of about 1 carat. The 2014 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender collection will be officially launched in August and will tour the world until October.

1 tenth of 1% of production (around 1 of every million carats) or 40 to 50 carats in total are sold at these auctions each year. Prices achieved range from US $100,000/carat to over US$1,000,000/carat.

Argyle is the fourth largest diamond producing mine in the world by volume, averaging annual production of 8 million carats. Only 5% of mined diamonds are of gem quality.

The AK1 pipe continues at depth and in April 2013 the Argyle underground mine was officially opened. The transition to a fully operational underground mining operation is underway. The Argyle underground mine will extend the mine life until at least 2020.

The one-ounce, 22k pink-gold ingots are each set with seven Argyle pink diamonds in the branches of a boab tree. The ancient boab tree is native to Western Australia's Kimberley region, where Argyle's pink diamonds were formed over a billion years ago.